


and the wilderness inside

by helloshepard



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Other, Post-Canon, Shipping If You Squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 14:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13549734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helloshepard/pseuds/helloshepard
Summary: Post-Predacons Rising. Shockwave finds a mech he thought dead knocking on the door.





	and the wilderness inside

A knock on the door startled Shockwave out of his work. Immediately he shut down the console, codelocking it with a simple gesture. Millennia of habit and paranoia had him check the surveillance feed automatically before getting up.

Nothing. No salesmech offering additional power rations or an illegally obtained copy of the latest Earthen blockbuster. No foolish ‘fan’ had located his address in the last orbital cycle.

Still. Shockwave was not afraid to be curious, to admit his ignorance.

He opened the door. It hissed open slowly, giving any intruder time to prepare their weapons.

Nothing. The night air was cold against his plating. Distant planets and stars shone overhead.

Shockwave turned his attention from the constellations, intended on closing and locking the door for the rest of the evening. Instead, he found himself standing face to face with a familiar…visor.

Were he prone to showing emotion, Shockwave might have leapt back, exclaiming any number of profanities.

Instead he took a single step back.

“Soundwave.”

The smaller Decepticon nodded.

Shockwave had heard the Autobot’s official explanation for Soundwave’s disappearance, which in no way matched up with the records pulled from the warship. Shockwave had seen the glow of two groundbridges colliding, trapping Soundwave in the middle. Then a flash, then nothing.

“Come in.”

Shockwave stepped back, making room for Soundwave to enter. As he watched, Soundwave blinked out of existence, only to reappear a second later, standing in the doorway.

“Fascinating.” Shockwave said. “The time in the alternate dimension has changed your relationship to your home plane.”

Soundwave nodded, again, more curt than before. Obviously he was not nearly as fascinated with the intricacies of his condition as Shockwave.

 _“Houston.”_ A garbled recording played, pulled from some Earth media. _“We have a problem.”_

“You are unable to control your displacement.” Shockwave theorized.

 _“I think—my—time is running out.”_ Soundwave moved to the console.

“Indeed.” Shockwave intoned. “Come. I require more information on your condition.”

 _“As you—command.”_ Starscream’s voice.

Shockwave gestured to the seat. Soundwave blinked out of existence for a moment, then reappeared a moment later, sitting calmly on the chair.

Shockwave quickly got to work, attaching sensor nodes to Soundwave’s helm and chestplate. The smaller Decepticon’s plating seemed to vibrate beneath his claws, though whether it was a side effect of his interdimensional travel or Shockwave’s own imagination, a false reading from having so little contact in the past years, he could not be sure.

“Your fuel reserves are depleted.” Shockwave informed him. “Stasis lock is imminent.”

Soundwave made a vague gesture with one hand.

“Wait here.”

His apartment was small, but large enough that the console—and Soundwave—were out of sight. When Shockwave returned with half the cycle’s rations in hand, Soundwave was gone again. The probes lay forgotten, dangling from the input jacks.

Shockwave sighed. It had been too much to hope Soundwave would be able to linger long enough to study the phenomenon.

He set the cubes down and accessed the console screen. The readouts were as inconclusive as Shockwave had expected but seemed to indicate a remedy was available. Shockwave settled down into the chair and began to test the hypothesis.

Five standard hours later, Shockwave was pulled out of his research by Soundwave crumpling to the floor. Faster than he had thought possible, Shockwave made his way to Soundwave’s side.

Still online, but Shockwave’s prediction of stasis lock had been correct. He pulled Soundwave upright, slinging the smaller Decepticon over his shoulder and began the trek to the recharge slab. Once there, Shockwave dumped Soundwave onto the thick metal sheet with as much finesse as he could manage, which was not much at all. To his surprise, the impact did not jolt Soundwave into the other dimension so much as it elicited a faint growl.

“Were you able to walk, that would not have been necessary.” Shockwave retorted. “Do your best to remain while I get the Energon.”

Shockwave returned to the main room and retrieved the Energon cubes. He was surprised, and more than a little reassured to see Soundwave remained on the recharge slab, though he had pulled himself up to a sitting position.

Shockwave handed him the first cube. Soundwave accepted, lifting it up to his masked face. Shockwave did not look away as Soundwave undid the clasps on his visor, but he did not remove it completely. Rather Shockwave only saw the faintest hint of faceplating, the brief shine of a fang that was quickly obscured by the cube. Before Shockwave could speak, Soundwave had finished the drink, and was reaching for the second one. Wordlessly, Shockwave handed it over. They sat quietly, silence only broken by Soundwave’s ex-vents as secondary systems slowly came back online.

“How long?” Shockwave asked, when the last cube had been drained.

_“Specify.”_

“How long have you been slipping between the dimensions?”

 _“Four—months and seven—days—ago.”_ Soundwave said, voice once again a mix of Cybertronian and Earth films. _“Looked for the—shock waves—but we were lost then.”_

“I see. I believe I may have a solution, though it will require time to implement.”

 _“Patience is a virtue!”_ A singsong Earth female.

“I will also require your assistance.” Shockwave looked down at his gun hand, not for the first time annoyed he had chosen the mod. “Come.”

Shockwave reabsorbed himself in the new project, though the suspension of time was broken by Soundwave’s constant disappearances and reappearances. When he was there, the space was small enough he was constantly brushing against the smaller mech. When he was gone, the space felt too big, though logically, the space’s dimensions had not changed at all.

The current issue facing the pair was the apparent _randomness_ of the displacement, both in frequency and duration. Some displacements lasted mere seconds, while the longest lasted several cycles. Shockwave finally detected a slight vibration in the air hinting at Soundwave’s return, and quickly devoted a considerable amount of processing power to detect the fluctuations.

As Shockwave began to weld his current hypothesis together, Soundwave flashed back into existence. Perhaps the smaller mech’s spatial actuators were misaligned, because he returned to his natural plane with his hand on Shockwave’s shoulder.

Perhaps, Shockwave also reasoned, Soundwave’s processor was also malfunctioning, because Soundwave made no move to alter his current position.

“Soundwave. I am aware you have returned.”

When Soundwave didn’t move, Shockwave turned to face his ‘patient’.

“What are you doing?”

Shockwave was met with silence, then a pointed look at his shoulder.

Ah. Perhaps Soundwave wished to ground himself, to reduce the psychological whiplash of the constant dimensional travel.

 “The console is a more logical place for grounding yourself. I am required to move.”

Soundwave did not move. He seemed to get even closer as Shockwave spoke.

“As you wish.” Shockwave returned to his work.

Shockwave had begun the final preparations when Soundwave vanished, though Shockwave suspected the mech had not moved. His suspicions were confirmed when, just a moment later, Soundwave reappeared, hand still on Shockwave’s shoulder.

Shockwave handed him the device. It was a circular thing, made of reclaimed salvage and circuitry from the Energon dispenser. Soundwave took it with practiced fingers, quickly fastening it under his armor. It settled with a soft click.

“Testing this theory will require some time. The distance between your phasing varies. I recommend at least a cycle before confirming your condition has successfully been altered.”

Soundwave had removed his hand from Shockwave’s shoulder to affix the device, but raised the long, spindly fingers once again. A question. A request.

Shockwave nodded.

 


End file.
